


If You've Been Waiting for Falling in Love

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Series: Sanctuary: A Corporate Assassin AU [1]
Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Cannibalism, Established Relationship, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Groping, Polyamorous Character, fellas is it chill to take a nibble out of the guy you've been crushing on?, not between any of the main characters just a faceless rando
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:40:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23227258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Graphite is an assassin for a shady organization called Genm, sold to them with eleven other units from a different shady organization that creates bioweapons. Sometimes, jobs go awry and he needs to fake his death, leading him to meet medical examiner Kujo Kiriya. After waking up in his morgue more times than he'd like to admit, Graphite gets the (not-so) bright idea to ask him along on a mission.
Relationships: Graphite/Kujou Kiriya, Kujou Kiriya/Aihara Jungo/Nishiwaki Yoshitaka, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Sanctuary: A Corporate Assassin AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703635
Comments: 20
Kudos: 12
Collections: Oreos' Fanfic Gauntlets





	1. An Awkward Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "Sanctuary" by Joji

Graphite woke up slowly from a dreamless sleep to the harsh scent of preserving chemicals and light shining through his eyelids. He immediately knew where he was and grimaced, instinctively squeezing his eyes shut to try keep himself in darkness for a few more minutes, but the light source above him was too strong. With a sharp grunt, he turned his head away, cheek coming to press against cool metal, and opened his eyes, lids fluttering as his vision adjusted.

The room was mostly dark from long, harsh shadows cast by corners and equipment, and what he could see of the floor was light tiles, tinted green from the ankle-deep pool of water covering it. Quivering ripples of light reflected off the water onto the rest of the room, highlighting nearby operating tables, the walls, ceiling, and the cabinets and drawers in the darkness. This was his twentieth visit to Seito University Hospital's morgue, and he exhaled, long and slow, to try and calm himself.

Charlie and Motors were idiots, but he's already tried explaining the glaring holes in their "let's bring the fake dead body to the same hospital then pick it up and take it to Genm" plan a few times. Including the part where they could just drive him right to Genm instead of playing along with the medical staff roles. Charlie and Motors were just gonna do whatever they wanted, and as dumb as they were, they were still family, and Graphite loved them regardless. Plus, if they didn't keep doing this, he wouldn't have met—

The sound of water splashing alerted him he wasn't alone, and repositioned his head, shutting his eyes and going still. He was supposed to be dead, and if his current company wasn't the person he thought it was, he'd be in trouble. The splashing grew louder as the person drew nearer, and Graphite held his breath, despite his temptation to scent the air and try to confirm who was with him.

"Wakey, wakey, sunshine, you're terrible at pretneding without your fake death drugs," A familiar voice singsonged, and Graphite quietly blew out the breath he was holding.

He kept his eyes closed and deadpanned, "Kujo."

"It's good to see you in my office again." He could hear the smile in the medical examiner's voice and it made something in his chest itch. A gloved hand came to rest on his side, "Your breathing is really obvious. They feeding you enough at whatever shady organization you're working at?" The rubbery coating dragged against Graphite's skin as Kujo traced along the curves of bone and muscle, "Well, obviously not, I can almost see your ribs."

Gritting his teeth, Graphite shifted and sat up to get the hand off him. He finally opened his eyes, seeing he was once again, face to face with Kujo Kiriya.

Graphite gave him a quick once over, noticing his button down was a soft yellow color, with faint stripes of a darker gold color in an irregular pattern across it, tucked into his usual beige slacks, which were rolled up his calves to avoid the water. And, for once, he was wearing his lab coat properly, instead of haphazardly thrown over his shoulders. Graphite preferred him wearing outfits like these to the sterile white outfit, or the long, pale blue smock he had for operating in. They were too close to what the Genm medical staff usually wore.

"You didn't keep me in the body bag this time," Graphite said, finally starting to feel the chill of the room on his bare skin. And usually here was the part where Kujo would respond with some remark, and his smarmy little grin, maybe saying something about how he couldn't pass up on the nice view, or how it was fancy to see him here. Graphite didn't really get it at first, but once Kujo explained the joke, he realized he liked it, not that he'd ever say that out loud.

Instead, Kujo seemed preoccupied with the knife hole in his stomach, brushing around the wound with turquoise covered fingers, applying pressure every once in a while, trying to find if there was anything still in the gash. Graphite grabbed his wrist, tugging it away and observing Kujo's surprised expression, how it shifted into something stubborn and a little pouty.

Kujo had been doing this a lot more recently. The witty jokes and relaxed grins would still be there, but a little more strained. He'd even forced Graphite down and treated a nasty case of battle damage before zipping him back into the body bag to wait for Charlie and Motors with a huff. That had been only once, but Graphite thought about it ever since, phantom hands roaming his body with intent to help whenever he got lost in the memory. This time, part of the blade had broken off in him, but Kujo shouldn't have to worry about it. He already had two people he could direct his care and concern to. People who deserved it and made Kujo happy and weren't an assassin who purposely fucked up his job to see the medical examiner again and again.

Graphite didn't need his care anyway, he just needed to eat, and he'd be fine since Kujo was right; they weren't feeding him at Genm. At least, not as much as they should be if they wanted him to heal properly. It finally got to the point where Kujo's scent was tempting, even under the stench of formalin and antibacterial soap. Of course, what he really should be eating was dubious to obtain at best but if they'd just let him—

"Are you asking me out or something?" Kujo was fake swooning, looking up at him with adoring eyes, any stubbornness from before completely gone, "Be careful, there. My boyfriends might get jealous."

Graphite snorted, "From what you've told me, they're not the type. And what can they do?"

"You'd be surprised," Kujo smiled cryptically.

Graphite had a retort on the tip of his tongue but got distracted by Kujo's cool, dry hand in his. Something about this just looked right, and he wanted to do this more. He did have a mission in a month that would be at some fancy party and he always hated those. Maybe having someone familiar would make it more bearable.

"So, are you asking me out, or not? I have to talk to them about it, of course, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind letting me have a nice night out with the handsome assassin who keeps showing up in the morgue." Kiriya's voice was warm and teasing, snapping Graphite's attention back to him.

"I am," he said, and Kujo's eyes went wide.

For once, in all the time they'd known each other, he looked at a loss for words. Graphite wasn't sure why he would be, so he continued like it was nothing. "I have a mission in a week I'd like you to accompany me on."

Kujo blinked, "Really? You want me to help with something? Even after all the," he dropped his voice a bit making it gruff, "'You shouldn't get involved, you're a liability' talk?"

"I don't sound like that." Graphite rolled his eyes, "And yes, despite all that, I want you to help."

Kujo looked at him expectantly and he stared back defiantly.

"So, gimme the details," he said after a while, "I can't help out if I don't know what I'm gonna be doing, 'cuz if you want me to help kill anyone, I'm out. And I don't wanna be around for any murder either, okay?"

Graphite felt his lip curl in disdain and he sighed. "Okay, it's not that involved. I just... My next mission's at a party and I always hate going to things like these."

"What's wrong with them?"

"I'm not great with large crowds. And um... I'm conventionally attractive, I guess, so I often get approached. So, it'd be nice to have someone around to make it look like I'm taken and let me focus on finding the target."

"You can't just tell people to fuck off and leave?"

"I'm getting in because I'm pretending to be a representative of the company that hired me for the hit, so I can't act out of line just in case rumors got out and it reflected poorly on them." A half truth, since the full thing would take way too long to explain to Kujo and was more ridiculous than being an assassin that faked his death and kept coming into the same morgue. Kujo proved he could suspend his belief for a lot of things, but what he really was might be too much.

Kujo looked down, considering all the information he'd been given so far as Graphite anxiously waited for his answer.

"You really can't just tell people off?" Kujo insisted.

Graphite shook his head. "I guess I could, but I'm not really good with words. Not like you. So it made me think if you were with me... Um, or is it really something your partners will be uncomfortable with? I wouldn't be able to get them in as well, and I don't wanna cause any problems..."

Kujo bit his lip, and Graphite caught the edges of his mouth upturned in a slight smile, but he quickly schooled his face back into his practiced, laid back grin.

"Well, free night of drinks, food and good company, what kind of person passes that up, right? I'll talk to them and see what they say."

Graphite felt a hum of warmth in his chest at being referred to as 'good company' but then his brow furrowed, "Maybe not drinks, just in case things go wrong, but I'll do what I can keep you from any violence that occurs."

Kujo chuckled, "That's reassuring."

"It's all I can do." Graphite shrugged.

Kujo squeezed his hand gently, "I'd love to go, then."

Graphite nodded, starting to give him the details for the event, but made Kujo go and get a pen so he could write everything down. Kujo only grumbled a little as he sloshed through the water to the offices in the back, returning with Graphite's clothes, and then needing to make a return trip for the pen.

"Why's it flooded in here again?" Graphite asked, now halfway dressed.

"Oh, don't mind, I did that," Kujo shoved his sleeve up and thrust his arm in front of Graphite, "C'mon, give me the address."

Graphite clicked the pen open and slowly started to write on his skin, pushing Kujo's sleeves up when they started to slip down. He shuddered every once in a while under the touch of the pen, and Graphite wondered what about the feeling triggered that reaction. And that started leading into what other things he could do that would cause those reactions. He cut that train of thought off quickly because it was dangerous, especially for someone like him. They were probably more out of hunger more than an actual attachment. At least he hoped they were. Fondness and connections were nothing but things to be weaponized against him in his line of work, and Kiriya was already taken, after all. When he finally got all the details down, he clicked the pen closed and handed it back, Kujo taking it blindly as he read the info on his arm carefully. Once he confirmed it was all correct, he looked at Graphite with a genuine little grin.

"See you there, sunshine."

* * *

It was only when he got through debrief and back into the Genm basement Graphite realized he severely fucked up. If he needed someone to distract civilians, there were so many better choices all around him and one of them would probably be sent along anyway once Kuroto remembered Graphite had all the social skills of a baseball bat with nails. Lovelica was especially good at rich people small talk, and Hatena was not only very up to date with what was going on outside of Genm affairs, he actually preferred being in disguise. Even Motors and Charlie, as dumb as they were, could be charming in their own rough way. Poppy would be ideal, but she was Kuroto's favorite, so there was no way Graphite would be able to request help from her, even if they worked well together. But the main thing was they were all trained and could handle themselves if things went sideways.

Kujo, on the other hand, was just a medical examiner. He'd taken martial arts as a child, but how likely was that to help if he didn't keep training?

He curled up on his spot on the floor, hugging a pillow to himself, exhausted and anxious about what he'd just done, hoping that maybe Kujo's boyfriends would talk him out of coming.


	2. Flirting and Faking It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next chapter were supposed to be one but it was getting so long so yeeting this one out into the internet and hopefully, the next one will be up soon!
> 
> A lot of this is stuff I've never really written before, so it might be a bit clunky, but I'm excited about how this whole thing is turning out?

The drive over to the party was hell.

Right before he was supposed to head out, Kuroto seemed to have remembered Graphite's level of social skills and assigned Lovelica to come along. At any other time, this would've been a blessing. Instead, he had to figure out how to explain the situation and have Lovelica stay away if Kujo actually came. His stress must've been apparent because Lovelica kept commenting on his expression since they left.

"You're broodier than normal, can't be good for that handsome face, you know. What's wrong?" Lovelica asked him after the first few minutes into the ride. When he didn't answer and just leaned his head up against the window, he hoped that would be the end of it, but Charlie and Motors joined in, all three of them needling him in between their own conversations until he finally snapped, "I invited the medical examiner to come with me!" which was met with stunned silence until the whole car broke out into a chaotic mess of shouting.

He yelled at them again to shut up, but it only made them louder, so he buried his face in his hands and waited out their surprise.

Once the group settled, he tried to keep the conversation just between himself and Lovelica. But Charlie and Motors were straining to listen. And of course, because they were Charlie and Motors, they weren't subtle about it at all, interjecting their opinions whenever they felt like it or stage whispering between them to clarify things they'd misheard. Of course, all of them knew about Graphite's "friend" from Seito, the knowledge spread in seconds among their family, but it just stayed within their circle, making it one of the worst-best-kept secrets in Genm.

Graphite knew there was probably a bet going around about the true nature of their relationship, though he didn't know the details. From the way Lovelica wouldn't stop smiling at him and Charlie and Motors' excitement, he could guess the three of them just thought they won it.

"This is excellent, Graphite!" Lovelica exclaimed, clapping his hands together and putting them to his cheek with a dreamy look. He hadn't stopped fucking grinning since they'd gotten the details of Graphite's arrangement with Kujo, "I'm so proud of you for finally going through and asking him out! We've all been talking about this for so long." 

"It's not like that," Graphite insisted flatly, looking out the window to avoid meeting any of their eyes.

"How is it 'not like that?' We've gone to Seito like, a hundred times by now. You two must've gotten up to something in all that time." Charlie popped his head around his seat to try and send him a teasing smirk.

"If you two didn't keep driving me there first, I wouldn't have been there that many times." 

"So you're saying it's our fault you fucked a civilian?" Motors gave him an inquisitive raised eyebrow rearview mirror, his tone only slightly disgusted.

"I didn't fuck a civilian!" Graphite sneered, starting to lose his cool. "I'm saying that maybe if you just took me straight to Genm from crime scenes, we wouldn't be having this conversation." 

"But you like him, don't you?" Charlie leaned further out, resting an elbow on the center console. "You don't want us to stop taking you to Seito now that you know him, right?

Graphite sighed. "Yes, I find him interesting, but I haven't done anything with him. Probably never will. Because he's taken. Twice over. So I don't think it matters if I keep going to Seito or not." 

"But he seems interested when you talk about him." Lovelica's eyes narrowed, "And just because he's dating other people doesn't mean he can't also date you." Charlie and Motors made noises of agreement, and Graphite just looked out the window again, hoping they would take the hint. "Look, he flirts with you, doesn't he?" Lovelica tried again.

"Yeah, but that could just be a "him" thing," Graphite mumbled at the window.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that—"

"We're done here," he snapped, and everyone flinched in their seats, Charlie even scrambled back to hide from view.

The silence that followed was awkward, and Graphite sucked in a breath through his teeth. He turned back to them with an apologetic look, though it was still a little exasperated. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just frustrating because it feels like you're not listening to me. There's really nothing between us. He might not even show up tonight. I'm kinda hoping he doesn't." 

"Why?" Charlie poked his head out cautiously.

"Because he'd be in direct line of danger if things go badly?" How did they not get this? It was so obvious.

Lovelica placed a hand over his chest, mouth agape and brows furrowed like he'd suddenly been struck, "Graphite... You care about him so much." 

Graphite held up his hands, "Please don't project weird thoughts onto this situation." 

"I'm not! You really, really care about him!" 

Grimacing, Graphite leaned away in his seat again. "I just don't want to have to deal with the fallout of him somehow getting hurt when he's with me. The way he talks about his partners makes me feel like they'd hunt me down in cold blood if anything happened to him." Which wasn't wrong, but also not entirely the reason he didn't want him to show up. He did care about Kujo. He wished it wasn't in the way Lovelica was implying since the feeling probably wasn't mutual, but he did, and he didn't want to be the reason Kujo got hurt.

"Well, before we do anything, we have to figure out if he even showed." Motors shrugged. "You gotta promise to point him out, I wanna see what this guy looks like." 

"Yeah! I can't believe we've taken you to Seito so many times, and we've never seen him?" Charlie turned fully in the passenger seat, excitedly patting his hands against it.

"Or maybe we have seen him, and we couldn't have known, since _someone's _being stingy with the details on his friend." Motors caught his eye in the rearview mirror with a joking glare.__

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Graphite didn't bother with an answer, just closed his eyes and wished the ride would be over soon so he would never have to deal with this again. At least their usual energy was back, and he promised himself this would be his first and only mission with Kujo. If he even showed.

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He looked out the window when they finally got to the venue, searching the crowd, feeling a little silly when he realized he was trying to keep an eye out for a lab coat. They circled the block a few times, Graphite starting to feel a mix of disappointment and relief in his chest that he could do this mission properly with Lovelica, when he spotted him, tucked between the front of the hotel and one of the planters.

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"Found him, I'm going," Graphite opened the door and tried to jump out, ignoring all of their protests since they were in the middle of a busy street and couldn't stop.

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But Lovelica grabbed him by the shoulder to keep him in place, wishing him a cheeky "good luck" with a wink before finally letting him open the door. Once he was out and they sped off, Graphite let out a sharp sigh of relief at his freedom from conversations about dating and meeting families and non-essential things unrelated to the task at hand. He'd need to talk to Hatena about those idiots' exposure to drama and romance shows. Maybe just entertainment in general, since Lovelica seemed to take everything he'd seen about romance from the computer to heart.

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The front of the venue wasn't as crowded as it would've been at the opening, but there were some stragglers still making their way in or people looking lost or miffed, standing in front of the entry, presumably waiting for the rest of their parties. Among them was Kujo, still pressed against the wall where he'd spotted him, intently messaging someone on his phone.

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Graphite didn't bother to look at who he was messaging, or what he was saying, figuring it was probably something to either or both of his boyfriends. The fact that the two of them knew about him should already be grounds to have cut Kujo off (a.k.a. killing him and everyone and anyone he told about Graphite). But here he was, giving him a pass, _trusting_ him that he was genuinely assuring Aihara and Nisshi he was alright. When it seemed like Kujo's messages were slowing down, he cleared his throat, and when Kujo startled, he mumbled, "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." 

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Kujo chuckled as he quickly regained his composure, stuffing his phone back into his pocket as he stood to greet Graphite properly, "Nah, don't worry about it." 

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Now that he wasn't fumbling around, Kujo gave him a genuine grin and a slow, appreciative once over. "I know I always get a really nice view when you're on the operating table, but I gotta say. You with clothes on is pretty hot, too." Graphite felt his entire face flush with heat for some reason, and Kujo laughed.

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Once Graphite was past the initial embarrassment, he gave Kujo a once over as well. He was dressed too casually for this type of event, and he seemed to recognize that. Graphite could tell in the way he nervously bounced on his toes like he wanted to bolt at any moment. Like he knew he didn't belong here. Neither of them did, but Graphite had his whole life to get used to being in places that make his skin crawl. Kujo had environments he was comfortable in, and while he seemed quite adaptable from all the stories he's told Graphite, a high society business mixer was obviously something far out of his realm of experience.

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He laughed nervously. "I'm kinda underdressed, huh?" 

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Graphite tilted his head, taking in the floral print on a muted red base once again. At least the shirt was collared— the black suit jacket thrown over sort of helped his outfit look more formal, but it was a few sizes too big and rolled up to reveal his forearms while slightly hiding how loosely it fit. His slacks didn't match well since they were his beige ones from work, but despite all that and how out of place he looked, Graphite thought it suited him. It might not have been in the dress code, but it was a mostly good look on him.

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"It'll have to do," Graphite tried to comfort him, reaching out tentatively, "Also, it's um... A little big. Can I?"

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"It's Jungo's. I didn't have anything formal," Kujo nodded, letting Graphite adjust how the jacket sat on his shoulders and flashed him a partial smile.

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"You know how to talk, so you'll do great." Graphite tried to assure him.

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"Yeah, with you. I have very… uh, limited experience on how rich people talk." 

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Graphite recognized how that could be a problem. He was much different from anyone they would meet here, especially in the ways of small talk. But he's confident Kujo would do well, and once they found the target, it could all be over quickly, and they both wouldn't have to suffer a whole night of discomfort.

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He offered what he hoped was an encouraging nod, "You have a way of getting back home safely once this is over, right?" He asked, and Kujo chuckled. "Of course. Kinda figured you wouldn't be able to give me a ride back." 

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Graphite nodded again and started walking to the entrance. Kujo followed a few steps behind until he caught up, and they walked shoulder to shoulder through the hotel doors. They had to take an elevator up before they got to the ballroom reception, and Graphite introduced himself as a "Genm representative," agreeing that yes, that's definitely him, at the first name they give him. He arrived so late the only person on the list left had to be the fake name Genm arranged.

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They walked past the desk and into the crowd, and Kujo hooked his arm around Graphite's to keep them from getting separated and lean in closer to mumble, "So, Kashima Gen, huh?" bemusedly.

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Graphite shrugged, "Not my real name."

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Kujo's mouth fell open slightly. "So, your name's really Graphite?" 

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"Yes."

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"Huh," Kujo pressed his lips together thoughtfully, and they wandered through the crowd in silence for a while. "Yeah, I think Graphite fits you best," He finally said with a little smile.

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Graphite raised a brow, "Thanks?"

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Kujo huffed a little chuckle and pulled Graphite's arm tighter to him, turning his eyes forward again, seemingly ending the conversation. Graphite stared at him a moment longer before following suit. They made their way through the crowds, circling for the target as Kujo made small talk, asking people where they worked and about their positions to make them seem interested to be there.

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The ballroom was expansive, which wasn't surprising, given the guests and some international, multi-million dollar corporation called Yggdrasil renting out the hotel space or whatever. The walls were mostly warm brown wood, but there were long panels of dark, almost black wood sticking out at evenly spaced intervals along them. Lights ran up and down the slats from behind, dimming the bulbs to cast the whole room in a warm glow, as if the entire place was bathed in candlelight, reflecting nicely on the polished floors. Some potted trees were placed around the perimeter, and ikebana displays were on some of the tables and behind the bar, helping to ease Graphite's nerves. At least it wasn't totally manufactured here. Speaking of the bar, it was to the side, the table and seats all a dark cherrywood color and backlit from lights on the shelves to display all kinds of bottles. There was already a crowd of people, mostly standing around and chatting. The major downside was there were a lot of people and a lot of ground, and they couldn't go through the room methodically without drawing at least a little suspicion. Nothing Graphite hadn't handled before, but it was a hassle he'd rather not deal with.

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Kujo would sometimes tense up next to him when they went through a particularly large or chatty throng of people. When he noticed, Graphite quickly weaved them through the crowds to a more open area, where he'd sigh softly and look up at him with a relieved smile. He pointedly ignored any feelings that welled up when that happened.

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After a while with no luck, they decided to take a break at the bar to sit. Kujo playfully made "c'mon, just one drink" jokes, and Graphite shut him down insistently until he started explaining he was kidding. As they were playfully bickering, an older woman in a slinky, dark blue dress came up and sat next to him. Every part of Graphite's body tensed when she placed a hand on his arm and murmured, "So, what are you doing here?" 

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Graphite went still as he fought back the urge to shove her arm away and bit down the "fuck off" on his tongue. A warm presence sidled up to the side opposite her, and he was about to start swinging when Kujo's voice cut through his thoughts, "We're Genm representatives. Or well, he's the Genm rep, I'm his plus one." 

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Kujo was wearing a charming little grin when Graphite turned to him, and the woman leaned back in surprise, "Oh, really? I'm here on behalf of the Kougami Foundation. We've had some business dealings in the past with Genm if I remember correctly." 

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The next few minutes were a blur as Graphite went on auto-pilot to all the business jargon Genm had ingrained in him, easily talking with the woman about all her questions concerning Genm, asking politely about Kougami in turn. It probably wasn't anything Hatena couldn't look up, but he made notes of interesting things she said just in case. She waved them a quick goodbye when one of the other Kougami reps came for her, and Graphite turned back to a Kujo who was in his seat again, fixing him with an unimpressed expression, one eyebrow raised as he sipped on some brightly colored drink.

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He made a little pout when he pulled the glass from his lips, and they were a bit shiny from whatever was acting as an adhesive, sugar grains from the rim clinging to them. "I need you to come with me because I'm not good at talking to people," he mocked.

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Graphite leaned heavily on the bar counter with a scowl, upset with the realization he couldn't take his eyes off Kujo's lips and how this must've looked to him. "I have extensive business training to seem convincing as an actual employee who would be at one of these things." Kujo still seemed skeptical but looked down into his drink to take another sip. "Could you not? Please?" Graphite stepped forward to take it from him.

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"It's non-alcoholic," Kujo licked his lips, catching the sugar crystals on his tongue, making it glitter slightly as it caught the light before slipping back into his mouth. He tilted the drink towards Graphite, "Here, try if you don't believe me." 

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He eyed it cautiously for a moment. The drink was a bold orangey-yellow color with chunks and slices of fruit floating around in it. The rim of the glass was coated in sugar crystals colored with something to turn them gold. He'd never had anything like it before, which was a little nerve-wracking, but also this probably the only chance he'd get to try something new. Kujo was starting to pull the drink back, so he caught his wrist gently and pressed his lips to the rim of the glass. Kujo's breath hitched, faltering for a second, but he wordlessly recovered and tilted the cup towards Graphite to help him drink.

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It was unapologetically sweet, only barely cut down by citrus and acidity of the fruits inside. The taste was only appealing for a second before it became overwhelming, and he dragged a slice of fruit out with his teeth, hoping it'd help cut the raw sugariness when he could chew it. His lips swiped through the sugar encrusted on the side of the glass as he pulled back, releasing Kujo's wrist as he did.

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Kujo's hand shook a little as he lowered the drink to the bar, but he had an expectant smile. Graphite made a slightly disgusted face as he licked the sugar off his lips, but whatever was coloring it had a slightly bitter, earthy taste that offset the sweetness better than the fruit could, making him blink surprisedly.

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”So…?”

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"It's good," Graphite murmured, and Kujo sighed a little laugh.

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”Right? And no alcohol, just like I promised." 

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Graphite blinked, "Yeah. That, too…" He looked away to hide his embarrassment at forgetting why he was trying it in the first place.

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Kujo picked the cup back up and tipped it towards Graphite with a smile, as if toasting him, before taking another drink from it. They stayed there until he'd finished it, Graphite searching the crowd in the meanwhile, trying hard to ignore the very distracting manner Kujo decided he needed to lick all the sugar from the rim with.

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With no luck in locating his target, they took to mingling with the crowds once again, sticking close together to make sure they didn't get separated. As they went around the party, Kujo was able to dispel a few more people wanting to approach Graphite with an arm thrown around his waist, or a chin rested on his shoulder, Kujo raising himself on tiptoe slightly to lean on him more comfortably. He was good, keeping people distracted from Graphite being very obviously not interested in the conversation and trying not to be distracted himself. Things seemed like they were going well, and people started to take the hint after a while.

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But with that known, they started attracting the attention of other kinds of people. Most of them didn't approach, but Graphite could feel eyes with intent on them, a lot of them drawn to Kujo. It was understandable, despite his thrown together outfit, it didn't detract from his attractiveness one bit. Granted, people didn't have to look at his clothes, but the bright colors of the floral shirt matched him well. If they weren't both wearing suit jackets, it could've looked like he'd lent his to Kujo. Something about that made his breath stutter and his chest tighten.

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Graphite didn't have much time to figure out the feeling since a voice he didn't recognize suddenly cut through his thoughts, and he looked up to see a man about Kujo's age wringing his hands, sweat starting to dot his face as he stood in front of them. He was pretty, everything about him was sort of willowy, even the frames of his glasses were delicate looking.

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”Um…” He started, and Graphite readied himself for more awkward flirting, but he looked up to meet Kujo's eyes instead. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but… I was wondering if I could take a moment of your time?" 

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Kujo gave him a softer, more genuine smile than the dazzling grins he'd been flashing all night, "Hey, if you wanna talk to a Genm rep, this is your guy," He gestured towards Graphite, "I'm the plus one. I just talked him into letting me come because this sounded like fun." 

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Little lies came off Kujo's tongue way too smoothly. He'd been coming up with excuses and placated feelings like it was breathing all night, and it made Graphite wonder why he seemed so natural at telling them. He worried for a moment that maybe Kujo was someone also "in the business" and he was only now realizing he'd been caught in a long game. But for some reason, Kujo easily letting the guy down and subtly linking his pinky with Graphite's eased his worries, making him even more worried he was already in too deep.

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The way Kujo handled the conversation was almost artful, being careful of the man's feelings, and he ended up leaving looking only slightly disappointed and maybe even relieved instead of crushed.

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"You're surprisingly good at that." 

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Kujo shrugged, "Not the first guy I've turned down by far. You wouldn't want to see the first few times. I was a dick. But, like, I guess that's just how it is when you're a dumb teenager, y'know?" 

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"Hm," Graphite grunted noncommittally. No, he didn't know what that was like, but he couldn't just outright say that. "Let's try somewhere else," he mumbled, eager to move on from the moment.

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Unfortunately for him, his body had other ideas, and he wobbled on his feet, suddenly hit with a dizzy spell. He almost toppled over, but he collapsed against a small frame, warm hands and arms holding him up as worried, "Are you alright?"s buzzed in his ears. He cursed internally, the weeks of minimal food from Genm was finally catching up to him. The vertigo eventually lessened, leaving his brain still feeling prickly at the edges and he shrugged Kujo off.

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” ’M fine.” He muttered, trying to avoid Kujo's eyes.

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Kujo tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at him, but Graphite turned away, starting to weave through the crowds again. He peeked over his shoulder, and Kujo was following him, regardless of the suspicious look on his face.

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It had almost been two hours since they arrived and Graphite was starting to worry the mark hadn't shown up. Kujo convinced him they should take another break and ushered him towards the food tables, trying to get a sample of everything, and making sure Graphite ate, too. He deduced the reason behind Graphite's stumbling around pretty quickly. Before he could be suspicious, he remembered Kujo's gloved hands tracing his almost visible ribs in the morgue the last time they met. Here was that concern he didn't deserve again, but he greedily took it in, since he was desperate enough to not be too self-conscious about it. He could hate himself later, for now, he wanted to indulge in the attention of someone he'd hungered for in more ways than one, pretending like they were just a regular couple. It was more than he could've ever asked for.

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Of course, the food here wasn't close to adequate for what Graphite needed, but he would enjoy it while he could. Kujo even let him eat from his hands, which was way too tantalizing for so many terrible reasons. Still, he fought to keep himself composed and gently took whatever he was offered with his teeth, being careful to avoid Kujo's skin with them. Graphite felt warm from the attention, and he must've been looking better from it, too, since Kujo had stopped fixing him with that concerned look.

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And of course, because Graphite couldn't have anything nice for too long, he felt someone grope his ass while Kujo was preoccupied with getting more food from the table. He breathed deep to curb the murderous intent and let it happen. The hand left when Kujo turned back, and Graphite stepped towards him, deliberately facing his back towards the wall to avoid any more unwanted touch. He tried to lose himself in the moment with Kujo, but the hand came back, creeping down his side now, rubbing against his hip. He avoided the instinct to whip around and see who it was, trying to slowly turn and catch them in his periphery. Before he could even try, Kujo was suddenly glowering at whoever was behind him.

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"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?" 

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The person tensed, hand jolting back from Graphite's body, and Kujo shoved himself between Graphite and them. People were staring, and Graphite felt every nerve burn with tension. They needed to get away, let things calm down before they returned so they could continue going around unnoticed. Kujo was still making a scene, snarling obscenities at whoever like a tiny, yappy guard dog, all his fluency from before completely gone in favor of asking "what the fuck was wrong with them.” 

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Graphite grabbed Kujo by the elbow, mumbling an "I'm sorry for him," that Kujo shot a "Don't apologize for me!" back at, and dragged them from the ballroom, trying to deescalate the situation as quickly as possible. He still caught a look at the person who was groping him, seeing he was a middle-aged man, committed his face to memory to take out at a later time. For now, he had a Kujo struggling to get out of his grip to deal with.

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When they were finally outside, Graphite took them a few meters down the hall, finding an unoccupied room and hauling Kujo inside so he could make as much noise as he wanted and they'd probably go unnoticed.

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When Graphite finally let go, Kujo was still fuming, "What was that?" he cried.

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Closing his eyes, Graphite let out a slow sigh, opening them again to look at Kujo seriously. "It happens. It's better to just let it get over with than draw attention." 

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"Bullshit it is! That's not how things work, Graphite! If someone touches you like that, then you have every right to tell them to fuck off! I mean, you're an assassin, don't you break peoples' fingers off for that?" 

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"Look, Kujo, when you're in a position like mine, and you can't have things reflect poorly on you or the company that hired you, letting unsolicited touches like that just happen is more productive than causing a scene like you just did. Most of these people are untouchable for someone like you or me, anyway." 

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Kujo looked like he wanted to argue more, but Graphite cut him off, "Look, you wanted to come with me on this mission, and this is how I work. If you don't like it, call your ride to pick you up. I'll finish it on my own." 

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"I'm staying." Kujo said resolutely.

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"Then no more outbursts, okay? We can talk about this next time I see you in the morgue." 

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Kujo scowled but accepted with a curt nod.

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Graphite let his stern face fall into something slightly relieved and overall tired. "Thank you." 

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Kujo's expression fell, too. He bit his lip and his brows knitted together worriedly. It was nice to soak it in the moment they had earlier, but he couldn't take concern now. Not when they just fought like that.

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They left the room together, and Graphite noticed some people smoking at a balcony further down the hall. He looked back to catch Kujo's attention and tilted his head towards the balcony. Kujo looked down, turning back to nod when he saw them. They approached silently, but tried to keep their walk casual. When they got close enough, Graphite saw his mark and gave Kujo a relieved little grin. He wasn't typically so expressive, but being with someone on a mission brought it out in him. Especially with Poppy, the others made fun of them for communicating solely with their eyebrows. He didn't exactly have a connection like that with Kujo, but despite the rocky moment they just had, he still felt comfortable enough to be a little vulnerable and communicate silently with him.

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The target was the first to notice their approach, and Graphite nodded at him. "Are you Higashi Jinbei?" 

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"I am. I assume you're the person Genm said they'd be sending?" 

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Graphite nodded, "Yes. I'm Kashima Gen, nice to meet you." He gave Higashi a once over. They usually only got headshots during mission briefs, so it was always a toss-up seeing the person face to face and learning what their build was like. Sometimes, they'd match their headshot quite well, and be as weak or strong as anticipated. And then there were people who were completely shredded under their clothes, offset by a soft or young looking face. Higashi looked like he matched his headshot well, older man, well into his fifties and the slowly deteriorating muscle to match, cane in one hand. Of course, suits could hide muscle well, and the cane could just be for show, but he was a smoker, which gave Graphite confidence in his advantages in taking him out.

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"Nice to meet you as well, Kashima." He bowed his head, then peered around Graphite with an amused look, "And who's your associate?" 

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Kujo jolted but gave a partial bow back. "Kujo Kiriya, I'm his plus one." 

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"He persuaded me to let him come." Graphite affirmed.

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"Will he be joining us for this meeting?" 

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"Yes." "No." They answered simultaneously.

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Graphite whipped around to give Kujo a glare, that he just met with a determined pout. "I'm coming with you," he whispered.

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"No, you're not." Graphite murmured firmly.

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"Sorry, no. He's just very excited to be here and wants to meet everyone." Graphite turned back to Higashi and the others, "I just assured him this is a very sensitive business matter, however, so he can't join us." 

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Higashi raised an eyebrow, face now stoic, "Thank you for informing him. Shall we find somewhere quieter?" 

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Graphite gestured down the hall. "Let's. I'm sure there's a lot of unused rooms around." 

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Kujo ended up staying put as Graphite left with Higashi and he let out the smallest chuff of air in relief. He knew Kujo was concerned, but it was so unlike him to want to be a witness for what was about to happen given his strong stance on murder. It was his whole job to solve crimes and research how to stop it from happening, after all.

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As they entered the room he and Kujo had been in moments before, he took one last look over his shoulder to see Kujo, still at the end of the hall, watching him silently. And with that, he quietly closed the door behind him.

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	3. But Wait, It Gets Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the chapter where the Graphic Descriptions of Violence warning comes in! Please take a moment to assess the tags and consider if this is a chapter for you, and feel free to skip if it will make you uncomfortable!

Graphite had been so focused on Kiriya that he hadn't noticed any details of the room when they were in here before. It looked like a fancy study or library. There were sofas in the center of the room, flanking the wide ends of a low coffee table with an artfully messy assortment of books on it. The couches even had little side tables with fancy looking lamps on them. The far wall to the left was lined with shelves filled with more books, and the back wall had two glass doors leading out to what little he could see of a balcony overlooking the city. Unlike the ballroom, this room was tiled, a red decorative rug thrown under the coffee table was the only splash of color on the grey floor.

Graphite gestured Higashi to sit at one of the couches first, sitting on the opposite one to face him.

"Well, let's get right to it," Higashi said, leaning back in his seat, "What did Dan need you to tell me that he couldn't say himself?" 

"It's about some side deals you've been engaging in Fuuto. He hasn't appreciated finding out about them and considers you a danger to keep investing in. Especially in the wake of the attacks you've been conducting on Genm's shipments to Machina Vision." 

Higashi's eyebrows twitched downward at the mention of the attacks and Graphite's lips pulled into a frown, "So it was you. Then you understand why we're cutting you off permanently?" 

"Yes, I see…" Higashi didn't seem very fazed, more upset that he got caught if anything. "Well, that's a damn shame, but I guess we're done here then? This seems pretty final if Dan doesn't even want to come down and negotiate this himself." 

Graphite nodded and gestured Higashi out. The old man sighed, trying to seem very put out, and hung his head. After a moment, he used his cane to get himself to his feet and started walking towards the door. Graphite got to his feet as quietly as possible and quickly wrapped his arms around Higashi's head, gripping his throat tight to crush any sounds that might've escaped from his windpipe.

He struggled and slapped his hands against Graphite's arms a few times, one hand going to his pocket when he seemed to realize it was fruitless. Higashi pulled out something that looked like a flash drive, hitting a button on it, making it call out "Ice Age" before jamming it into a port on his wrist. Graphite let go to try and grab the device, but it slipped out of his grasp, making a high pitched whine and glowing as it absorbed into Higashi's skin. Suddenly, ice-cold steam exploded from his body, forcing Graphite off him. The steam condensed over his form, morphing his whole body into something vaguely humanoid-shaped, with ice crystals jutting out of his head and all along his back. The rest of his body was pitch black, only broken up by ice forming armor-like plates and thin patterns on him.

Graphite hissed as he stumbled away, arms and neck burning from the cold. He fell into a crouch, catching himself from falling on his back, and rolled his shoulders, feeling his muscles twitch and his whole body heat up. If he had to deal with another one of these things, he might as well go all out. It wasn't like Higashi would be alive to talk about his true form once this was over.

With a shout that turned into a roar midway, Graphite sprung to his feet, charging into Higashi, not even bothered by the blast of icy air sent his way. His entire body lit up, shifting and transforming with a scalding heatwave. When the heat and blinding light died out, Graphite dug his claws into Higashi's body, rolling them until he was on top, bearing a crocodilian snout full of razor-sharp teeth down on him.

His skin was scaly hide now, like armor, mottled with patterns of green and black across his body. Spikes and patches of rough scales grew from his arms, legs, and spine, adorning everything all the way down to the tip of his powerful tail that was lashing about, slamming into one of the side tables and shattering it to pieces.

Higashi struggled to raise his arm, managing to catch Graphite with another stream of frigid air right into his mouth. Snarling, Graphite rolled off him to shake off the chill and get into a better position. Higashi scrambled to his feet and tried to get away, but Graphite caught him with a wild slash of claws at his calf. He stumbled, pausing to clutch at his leg. Graphite's vision went blurry, making him realize he'd probably already burned off anything he'd eaten with Kujo when he transformed. He was running on nothing but willpower now. With a grunt of effort, he drove his claws into Higashi's leg again. He was about to get to his feet to snap his neck, but a loud creak from somewhere distracted him. His head whipped towards the door to see Kujo burst through, looking worried.

"Graphite are you o—?" he froze for a moment, then slipped through the doorway quickly and closed it, pressing his back against it.

Graphite hoped Kujo realized he was on the wrong fucking side of the door, but placed himself between Higashi and the human just in case he was still serious about this whole "we're doing this together" attitude he had all night. He probably couldn't even tell who either of the monsters in front of him were. Higashi took advantage of his distraction and shot more ice at him. Graphite shuffled back, trying to escape, but Higashi hobbled over to him, grabbing him by the arm, frost spreading from the point of contact up his scales. Fangs bared, Graphite whipped back at him, snapping his jaws onto his arm. The ice burned the inside of his mouth momentarily, but it was more than enough to break Higashi's concentration, and the chill died down quickly. He chomped down harder, trying to bite through the bone and thrashing his head to rip the arm off.

Whatever Higashi was now, he tasted terrible. Horrible, viscous liquid dripped from his wounds, filling Graphite's mouth and dripping from between his fangs. Usually, it would be enough to turn his stomach, but he was so desperately hungry, the semblance of flesh and blood on his tongue drove him to bite harder. Higashi brought his free arm down on Graphite's head, getting his bearings enough through the pain to freeze him once again.

Graphite didn't even release him when he flinched back, just dragged his teeth down until he was out of range and off the other monster's arm, making Higashi scream bloody murder as it was shredded.

Higashi staggered back, still screaming, his voice distorted by whatever the flash drive had done to his physiology. Graphite tried to take him down one last time, but stumbled forward onto the ground, landing on his side and letting his mouth hang open so whatever goop and flesh he'd torn from Higashi's body dripped out, uncertain if he wanted to eat it or not. Another dizzy spell hit, making him collapse onto his back.

His hearing became muffled, and his vision blurred, but he could clearly make out the shape of Higashi stumbling his way over to him. He raised his foot and brought it down hard on Graphite's stomach. The air left his lungs in a garbled cry. Higashi was so injured he was past the point of even using his powers, just stomping on Graphite's ribs again and again. He just closed his eyes, hoping Kiriya had been smart enough to leave since he'd lost track of him in the fight, and waited for whatever happened to him next.

A shattering noise made him jolt, and his eyes snapped open just in time to see a shower of porcelain shards and sparks fly around him. He took a moment to look around, letting his vision cleared a bit, he was able to piece together that someone had smashed a lamp into Higashi's head. But the only other person in the room had been—

Kujo…

There was no mistaking it, Graphite could recognize that scent anywhere. The human started backing away, and Higashi rolled his neck irritably, whirling on Kujo to start stalking towards him. Wild desperation welled up in Graphite's chest, and he struggled to his feet, growling low and dangerous as he did. Higashi paid him no mind as he raised his hand toward Kiriya, plumes of fog starting to envelop it. Graphite charged and tackled him to the ground, tearing into him recklessly with claws and teeth and his sudden burst of energy. This was supposed to be a clean murder, but seeing Kujo in danger and his own desperation wiped any mission parameters from his mind besides, "Higashi has to die." 

The ice crystals and hardened skin faded into Higashi's human body as he drew his last breaths, the device sliding out of the port in his arm, skidding across the floor in Graphite's frenzy. With Higashi back to his regular human self, his flesh was something edible again. And finally, the taste of food, fresh food, after all this time of surviving off the bare minimum for months, Graphite lost the last remnants of control.

Graphite was just focused on tearing through flesh with his claws, blood and gore spreading everywhere. He managed to rip a huge chunk out of the corpse's chest and threw his head back to devour it. "Relief" was barely enough to cover the feeling he had at the moment. He knew why Kuroto wanted him to get to this point, wanted him in this desperate state, thinking it would make him more effective as a killer since he hadn't exactly been doing well on the jobs previous to them cutting back his food. What a good idea that was, making him so weak he had to rely on the help of a civilian to get this job done.

He started to hear something over the frantic beating of his heart and the tearing and crunching sounds of bones and viscera. It was still faint, but it sounded like a voice, somehow familiar.

It took a while, but he was eventually able to make out his name being called. He was still so hungry, but the voice's familiarity demanded his attention, and not in the way Kuroto or the handlers at Genm would be. This was something that made warmth pool in his belly, filling it in a way that couldn't sate him now, but in times before had been a comforting weight.

His vision was blurry from his head rush during his frantic eating, and he blinked a few times to focus. A human shape came into view, small scared, but hands outstretched towards him. He still couldn't recognize who they were in the haze of his animal brain warring with human logic. They reeked of fear and blood, covering any scents he could use to identify them. Graphite could see the blood dripping slowly from gashes on their hands and crawled closer to get a better sense of them, but they started backing away slowly. He kept going forward, giving a lazy chase, matching their speed until they backed up against a wall. He bumped his snout against their leg, trying to recognize them, but their fear was overwhelming, making him snort at the bitterness of it.

Graphite still wanted to know who they were because there was supposed to be someone here. Someone important, and he wanted to make sure it was them. He slowly, reluctantly rose up on his hind legs, knowing the human's scent would be easier to find on places higher up.

The human was shuddering, still calling his name and saying things like "It's you, isn't it?" "Graphite, what happened to you?" He pressed close to them, snout grazing the shoulder first, then moving to sniff at the throat.

It’s Kujo.

His scent was usually buried under the chemical stench of preserving fluids and damped with the burn of antibacterial soaps, but Graphite could always pick it out once he figured out which one truly belonged to him. And now, like this, only accented by a musky and sort of honey-sweetness of some kind of cologne, Graphite could fully experience it, letting himself drown in it, pushing everything else away. His mouth opened instinctively, breath coming out heavy over Kujo's shoulder and neck, teeth framing the fragile body beneath him.

Kujo… Kujo, Kujo, Kujo… He barely heard the whimper of "Graphite wait," as he ripped the floral shirt open, buttons snapping free and clattering to the floor and he wants—

He wants.

He wants so much and mixed with the hunger he still hasn't sated, he wasn't sure if he craved an actual taste or something else. He nuzzled into the crook of Kujo's neck, still panting against his skin and saliva starting to drip from his fangs as he decided what to do with these feelings and the human against him. Kujo shuddered, trying to lean away, squirming to find a way out of Graphite's blockade. But Kujo slowly calmed down, seeming to realize Graphite wasn't doing anything to harm him and leaned in slightly. He brushed his cheek against Graphite's snout, skin and scales rubbing together smoothly, his breath coming in unsteady, shuddering puffs, warming Graphite's hide and whispering his name against him again.

"Are you in there? You recognize me?" 

Graphite let his tongue venture out, licking Kujo's neck, tasting the salt and sweat and just a savory hint of his flesh, staining it red with the blood coating his mouth. He trembled at the flavor. The person he'd been eating earlier was serviceable, enough to help him feel better. But Kujo… He was something to be savored, but so enticing when mixed with the scent of the blood on his hands, Graphite didn't even realize his teeth had buried themselves in Kujo's shoulder until the hot tang of iron burst across his tongue and the human cried out underneath him.

He blinked a few times, dragging his tongue against the gashes he'd torn into Kujo's skin until what he'd done fully set in. Graphite pulled back in horror, his real self falling away and back into his human disguise.

"Kiriya, I…" He said, reaching towards him, and the human's eyes widened, chest rapidly rising and falling with anxious breaths. His skin was ashen and slicked with sweat from pain, eyes glassy with tears. Kiriya stared at him like a deer in headlights for a moment before his gaze flicked down to Graphite's hand and he flinched away.

He should kill him. He'd seen what Graphite really was, and he was more of a danger than ever before, but he couldn't. The fear in Kiriya's eyes hit him harder than anything he'd taken in his life, and he stepped back. He took one last look at Kiriya, then ran for the glass doors leading to the balcony, ignoring Kiriya's cry of "Graphite, wait!" as he opened one, leaping off the balcony and transforming once more to help with the impact of the fall to the street below. With the sidewalks blessedly empty at this time of night, he morphed back to his human disguise and started running, finally phoning Charlie for extraction when he found a secluded place.

Charlie, Motors and Lovelica took one look at him as he got into the car and were eerily silent for the entire drive back to Genm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, it's Kamen Rider Amazons (2016) AU!
> 
> For the Ice Age Dopant, I always imagined it was like a mix of tar and ice because the fossils from that era I learned about were excavated from tar and I've associated them ever since.


	4. Knife Edge

Once they returned to Genm, Lovelica, Motors, and Charlie were sent back to the basement almost immediately, leaving Graphite to fend for himself. Angry didn't even begin to describe Kuroto as he yelled and threatened. He was enraged, incensed, pissed off. Those words didn't really describe his ranting either, but Graphite wasn't good enough with words to give much thought on what might fit Kuroto best at that moment. After making it through a screamed lecture he only half paid attention to, the handlers roughly took him back to the basement as well, where the rest of his family was kept.

Graphite tried his best not to make eye contact with anyone on his way down, just finding a nice spot to sit on the floor and staring hard at the hairline cracks in the cement. Slowly, everyone started to approach him, Alhambra rushing over with medical supplies first, attending the visible injuries on him. Graphite could tell he wanted to check the rest of him but was letting it slide because of whatever happened. Poppy sat down with him next. She tried to lean down and get him to meet her eye a few times, but when he recoiled, she left it alone and ran her clawed fingers through his hair softly, letting out a sad little whistle. He could hear and feel the rest of them approach, and they stood or sat around him. Even Hatena hurriedly crawled from his sprawling mess of monitors and cables to join. He probably already knew since he had eyes and ears on everything, but when Graphite finally looked up at each of them, they all seemed to know something was up, but weren't sure what.

Seemed like Lovelica and the others hadn't said anything yet, since concern and curiosity were tugging at everyone else's expressions. He wasn't sure if he was thankful or upset at that, but right now, he knew they needed an explanation, and it was left to him to say it. Charlie and Motors stared at him apologetically, and Lovelica couldn't exactly meet his eyes, face pinched with sadness and pity, maybe even regret.

He breathed deep, and let it out slowly, wincing only slightly at the pain it put on his ribs.

"I fucked up."

* * *

Once he explained everything to them, the room became a swirl of noise and motion. Alhambra pulled him away, demanding he strip so he could care for Graphite's wounds, and everyone else shot out rapid-fire ideas of what to do around them. Some were suggesting they put one of their many "Escape from Genm" plans into motion, bringing up the tired old argument of giving up a safe-ish life with guaranteed food versus a life of always being hunted and on the run once again. Poppy tried to quell the fights and keep them focused on the situation at hand, to not much success. Hatena just scrambled over to his corner and started catching up on whatever news he must've missed, Gatton trailing after him, crouching down mechanically to squat next to a monitor and watch.

No one had any good ideas, and eventually Poppy was able to get through to all of them, with some help from Motors roaring "SHUT UP" to give her some room to speak. After a little more squabbling, they decided that they couldn't do anything with what they knew right now, and they'd just have to wait for Genm to make a move and hopefully be prepared enough to react. Graphite didn't listen to the rest, and even if he wanted to, Alhambra probably wouldn't let him, ushering him over to the sleeping area and making sure he rested before he left to join the others.

Graphite's sleep was fitful, and he woke up often, body overheated and sweaty from Kujo's scared eyes and the iron tang of his blood overtaking the few minutes he would nod off. The rest of the time he stared fretfully at the ceiling, wondering if Kujo was alright and worrying about how good he tasted. Disturbed by how much he enjoyed the flavor. No other human had tasted like that before, and he hoped it was just from the desperate state he was in, trying to ignore that he had a direct comparison with another human's flesh right before.

* * *

The next day, Graphite woke to Hatena looming over him, eyes intent and a little impatient.

"Good, you're up," He said, tone clipped, "The medical examiner's okay."

Graphite bolted up, almost slamming his head into Hatena's, "You're sure?"

"He's a medical professional, of course. He called emergency services approximately twenty minutes after the incident, and they got him to JR Tokyo General fifteen minutes later. He lost a lot of blood, but they got him a transfusion and he's stable."

Graphite let out a sharp sigh of relief, and Hatena started shuffling away, but something about the information didn't sit right.

"Wait, why did it take twenty minutes for him to call?"

Hatena kept moving towards his corner, shrugging, "Shock I assume. He's still in recovery so I won't know until he gives a statement. Fuuto police should be coming down later today for the evidence."

He moved out of range before Graphite could ask anything else, and he decided against pursuing him for answers. That was probably all Hatena had anyway. 

The rest of the day, and a few after that, were marked by a heavy, anxious air swirling in the basement. Almost everyone kept getting sent out on missions, Poppy going out to do some investigation and damage control with Genm's PR team to keep anything from being linked back to them. Kaiden and Salty going along as extra protection. It still made them worried that Kuroto was planning on somehow getting rid of them, and it made most of them snappier with each other.

Lovelica spent most of his time by Graphite's side, apologizing for what happened, but Graphite tried to turn them down, insisting he should be at fault since there were so many opportunities to keep Kujo from harm. Lovelica stopped after a while but Graphite could tell he still felt terrible about it. They waited for more news from Hatena with bated breath since Lovelica was one of the few of them that had a constant human persona, and if word got out that Amagasaki Ren didn't show up to the event when he should've, it was probably all over for the both of them.

"I'm so stupid, I should've told him to use a fake name." Graphite realized on day three of anxiously waiting to see if Kuroto figured out Kujo's connections to him.

"Yeah, probably," Lovelica sighed. "You're _really_ bad at espionage, I don't know why he keeps sending us on missions we're not suited for. Motors and Revol got sent out to do some stealth recon before you went out."

Memories of Motors and Revol's loud voices rang in Graphite's ears, making him wince then chuckle a little at imagining them trying to be stealthy. Plus, they didn't always see eye to eye, so they were prone to arguing, even on a job. "Well, I guess someone needed to drive, though it's probably better to just have Motors wait in the car."

"Right?" Lovelica grinned, "That's what I said when they came back from that one. They were trying to blend into some archeological research facility, too. Oh! By the way, the Chosen One agrees, she should've been sent with me on your most recent disaster. It's sad Kuroto saw that job as too lowly for her."

Graphite tried to smile, but his lips pulled more into a flat line. "I mean it was. She would've killed him in like two seconds, not like that was the whole point or anything," He rolled his eyes.

Lovelica patted him on the shoulder with a sympathetic look, "It's a very unlikely situation, but perhaps this will finally show Kuroto he doesn't need you or the others to be some mostly-starved, rage machines."

"Pff, I couldn't even do that, this time. But, yeah it's a long shot," Graphite shrugged with his other shoulder. "Or maybe he wants us to slip up and get caught. Doesn't it seem like he's a little antsy to be recognized for everything we've done, lately?"

"Well, if that's true, I think we'll all _finally_ be able to agree that it'll be time to enact grand plan: get the fuck out of here, no?"

Graphite finally laughed. It was weird, but Lovelica always was the best at getting him to smile. "I hope so."

At that moment, Vernier hesitantly stepped up to them. They reached out their talons and gently tapped the back of Graphite's hand.

"Hatena…" They mumbled.

Graphite nodded at Lovelica and offered up his arm to Vernier. They grabbed his wrist gently and helped tug him to his feet, then lead him over to Hatena's corner. They carefully stepped over tangles of wires and discarded computer parts until they were in the circle of sitting space Hatena had made for himself, Gatton, and anyone else he invited in. The media frenzy of the last few days had Hatena busier than normal, so he finally got Gatton invovled, handing them a spare keyboard and directing them to a few monitors to help him keep up with every bit of public news, while he tried to dig deep into more private reports from the police and the hospital. They worked pretty much around the clock, trying to get as much as he could to stay ahead of Genm and help them all make the most informed decision possible if and when the time finally came for drastic action.

Vernier shuffled up behind Hatena mumbling, "Graphite's here," to him, and shook the arm still in their talons for emphasis.

"Thanks, Vernier." Hatena said distractedly, and Vernier dropped his wrist.

Graphite thanked them as well, giving them a few pats on their downy head and they leaned up into his touch before darting away from Hatena's computer nest. He watched them go, then knelt between Hatena and Gatton, "What have you got for me?"

"Remember when I said he's good?" There was only one person that could've been referencing and Graphite swallowed hard.

"Yeah."

"I stand by it. I really think Kaiden might be right, he's gotta be a spy or something," Hatena's words came out in an excited rush and scooted aside for Graphite to sit at the monitor he was looking at.

There was an article on it and Graphite scanned through, breezing by reports on what the police had found at the hotel and how there was no security footage so there wasn't much to go off beside the one eyewitness report. When he read that his stomach started churning.

Kiriya was alive.

Of course he was. Hatena had assured him himself, and nothing he'd inflicted on the human was lethal. But besides talking with the rest of his family, Graphite had nothing to do besides getting in his own head and consider all the terrible possibilities of what could've happened during Kujo's operation and the rest of his recovery at the hospital. He shouldn't have had so much doubt, but the taste of Kujo's blood still haunted him. Kujo might've been in shock for a while, but he called emergency services about ten minutes after Graphite left. Thankfully, the wounds weren't deep, not counting the hunk of shoulder he'd taken out, and apparently, when Graphite pulled away, his teeth tore at Kujo's skin so they looked convincing enough to have been stab wounds inflicted the ice from what the article kept referencing as a Dopant.

Fuuto police would be getting involved along with some private detective agency that specialized in dealing with these kinds of cases. He skimmed over an image of the press conference of a stern-faced man in red biking leathers flanked by a woman in a long-sleeved red shirt with a white vest thrown over, and man with curly hair in a light purple t-shirt and black suit jacket. Probably the police chief and the detectives, though he couldn't for the life of him tell who was who.

He moved from the press conference statements, scanning for mentions of Kujo but moving on when he couldn't find anything more about his condition. Eventually, he neared the end of the article and his throat constricted.

"The Dopant attack victim is currently recuperating at JR Tokyo General Hospital. They insist that the Gaia Memory must have affected the attacker in some way that led to the gruesome scene at the Yggdrasil event, despite Fuuto police having no record of anything remotely similar happening to a user. They cannot rule it out, as the Gaia Memories' full capabilities and side effects still remain an unsolved mystery, but the victim will be questioned again as they are believed to be in shock and misremembering events of the night…"

Graphite fell back, catching himself on his hands. This was a lot to process, but it alleviated some of his anxiousness. There was still the fear that maybe Kujo was misremembering things, but for now, Graphite just assured himself Kujo was lying for him.

"So, am I right?" Hatena grinned.

"Yeah," Graphite sniffled once because he didn't cry, "He's really good."

* * *

Eventually, the media storm surrounding the Yggdrasil event calmed down and things started going back to normal. Even Graphite was allowed back on jobs, though he was tense on every one like it was going to be his last. They all kept on their toes and Hatena kept them up to date on Genm's moves and plans.

It had been enough time that Kujo was finally discharged from the hospital, too, confirmed by Hatena and his "sources" that he refused to divulge, even to Gatton who was more than a little pouty about it. Kujo was interrogated by the police a few more times and they "confirmed" his previous statement wasn't trauma, but they did suggest he get therapy because of the stunning detail he was able to recount the events of the night in. Graphite went through something akin to an existential crisis when they read the articles and reports, warring with himself between guilt and relief that Kujo was still covering for him despite everything.

Graphite resolved to try get back to the morgue somehow and apologize, then hopefully that'd be the last time he'd ever to have to see Kujo, and he could let him live a normal life.

The chance came sooner than expected since Kuroto sent him on a mission where he and Revol were in a tight spot so he subtly swallowed the pills with an exasperated look and collapsed in the middle of a crowd, creating a big enough distraction for Revol to get away quietly with the dossier they "appropriated." When he woke up this time, it was to a hand slapping the side of his face lightly, wholly unfamiliar in feel and scent, with the exception of preserving chemicals, and Graphite panicked for a minute that Charlie and Motors took him to the wrong morgue or directly to Genm. They'd talked about getting him back to Seito extensively since they were planning on just taking him home like he'd been insisting this whole time. Of course, the one time he actually, 100% wanted to end up at Seito, the disaster duo would be insistent to take him anywhere but. He didn't think they'd betray him like this, but if this was some other morgue, he'd have some choice words with them later.

"C'mon, stop faking, I know you're awake," A voice said gruffly from above him. When he refused to open his eyes, they sighed tiredly, "It's okay, I'm Aihara."

Graphite's eyes snapped open in recognition of the name and immediately regretted it, squinting against the familiar, harsh morgue lights. Aihara was silhouetted by the lamp behind him, and there was seemingly no water on the floor to reflect up onto his face. Graphite slowly sat up and Aihara stepped back to give him space and distance to finally be able to see him. He was taller than Kujo, not by much, but enough for a clear difference and seemed fairly pale, but the fluorescents were washing his skin out pretty badly. Kujo's skin was a lot warmer in tone and a touch darker than he expected in actual lighting, so maybe Aihara was around the same skin tone.

He wore a pretty standard doctor's outfit, but Graphite's eyes honed in on the very familiar knife tucked into a holster on Aihara's belt. He looked back up to Aihara's face, sharp features made even harsher by the lighting and the glare he was directing at Graphite.

"So, 'Nozama employee' equates to 'interesting job' in Kujo's head?" Graphite asked warily, eyes flicking back down to the knife every so often.

"Former," Aihara said, "I transferred out to work here at Seito when I helped rescue Kiriya from an Amazon attack. He just uses the phrase "interesting job" or says I used to be a field biologist as a cover story for what I really was. You should know, he's done that for you all this time."

Graphite flinched, but kept eye contact with Aihara as he asked, "So, are you here to protect him again?"

Aihara's hand came to rest on the knife. "That depends on what you're here for."

Graphite instinctively bared his teeth at the motion, but forced his eyes back up to Aihara's face to answer, "I was hoping to apologize."

After a tense moment, Aihara's hand fell from the knife and he pulled his lab coat over it. "It's been a while since he was discharged."

"I live in a basement, kinda hard to get out when there's handlers posted outside with tasers and batons." Aihara's brows furrowed and Graphite shrugged. "I didn't want to suddenly reappear either. I put him through a lot, figured he didn't want to see me right after he got discharged."

Aihara squeezed his eyes shut exasperatedly for a moment, and Graphite tilted his head, "It's the exact opposite actually. Nisshi and I have been keeping him away every time a new body comes in just in case it was you."

Graphite swallowed thickly, nodding, "Smart. You couldn't have known if I'd be hostile or not. I'm still… I'm still afraid of what might happen if I see him again."

"So you did enjoy it," Aihara mumbled almost inaudibly.

"I'm not a stranger to human meat. I don't know where it comes from, but they feed it to us sometimes, so of course I enjoy what I'm supposed to eat." Graphite snarled.

Aihara's eyes narrowed at him, "I guess you're right, but I don't like it when it's my boyfriend we're discussing. So, why don't you try again and give me a real reason I should let you see him?"

A pang of sharp emotion went through Graphite's chest at that moment. He always figured Aihara and Nisshi cared for Kujo, he spoke about them too fondly for it to not be reciprocal. But hearing that protectiveness out loud made it so much more real. It resonated with something deep inside him, making him wonder if it was something he also wanted to be for Kujo, or something he wanted for himself.

A former Nozama handler protecting an Amazon. Now that was funny, but not entirely repulsive like he would've thought.

"I really just came here to apologize, and I was planning on avoiding this place once I did." He legitimately didn't have any other reasons, and if Aihara wouldn't take the truth, Graphite would probably just have to abandon this idea.

But, Aihara finally relented in his glare, his lips quirking up in a half-smile. "Not a great argument, but... Good luck in convincing him to go with that. He's been wanting us to meet you for ages now."

Graphite frowned, "Why?"

Aihara said nothing, disappearing into the gloom of the office. He returned with Graphite's clothes, neatly folded and shoved him back down onto the table when Graphite tried to get up to put them on. Aihara placed the clothes on his chest and started zipping the body bag back up. "He can tell you when he sees you. Don't keep him waiting for too long, okay?"

In a flash, Aihara drew the knife from his belt and placed it at his throat, the blade glinting in the light and making Graphite squeeze his eyes shut for a moment. His other hand held him down with unbelievable pressure through the pile of fabric on his chest, "And I'm sure you'll know what'll happen if you try to hurt him twice."

Graphite just hissed at him, baring his teeth, "Don't expect me to go down easy then."

Aihara's mouth dropped open slightly and he blinked, but the pressure on Graphite's chest didn't relent, "Oh, I'm starting to see why he likes you now."

"Wh—" Aihara backed off and quickly zipped the bag up before he could ask anything else. Footsteps against the dry tile floor telling him where Aihara's position in the room until he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jungo's actor was in Amazons Season 2, which is why he's like this, haha. But since this is an AU where both seasons technically didn't happen but he still worked as an Amazon hunter/handler I kinda just, made up his personality since I think it'd be pretty different from Ex-Aid and Amazons Season 2.
> 
> Now that it's revealed the Bugsters are Amazons here's what everyone's monster forms are based on, even if all of them don't show up, lol
> 
> Graphite: Caiman  
> Poppy: River Dolphin  
> Motors: Jaguar  
> Charlie: Rainbow Whiptail (lizard)  
> Kaiden: Snapping Turtle  
> Hatena: Red-Banded Leafhopper (insect)  
> Lovelica: Passiflora (flower)  
> Salty: Plum Throated Cotinga (bird)  
> Alhambra: Heliconia Flower  
> Revol: Ripsaw Catfish  
> Gatton: Assassin Bug  
> Vernier: Harpy Eagle
> 
> Also the ones with constant human personas are Poppy as Karino Asuna, Lovelica as Amagasaki Ren, and Hatena as Togo Kiyomiya, the programmer from the Pac-Movie lol.


	5. An Angel Ain't What I Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Last chapter! Thank you for sticking around on the ride for this long if you made it here!

Regrettably, Graphite ended up keeping Kujo waiting another two months. Whatever was in the dossier he and Revol had gotten on their last mission had enough to keep Kuroto occupied for a while. The only tasks they were given in the meantime was for Hatena to keep up his usual news surveillance, and for "Karino Asuna" and "Amagasaki Ren" to keep up their expected appearances at conferences or mixers, with "Kiyomiya Togo" going to some gaming conventions or similar events he hated every moment of since he was separated from Gatton and his computers.

Just when Graphite was about to lose hope of ever getting this apology out to Kujo anytime this year, Kuroto called him up for a mission. When Kuroto gave Graphite the details of how he was going to go undercover as a substitute teacher at a high school, of all things, he tried to hide his disappointment that he wouldn't have any opportunities to fake his death. When he finally arrived at the school, he tried to muddle through the experience as best he could. About halfway through the school day, Graphite decided this mission was useless, and he'd have nothing to report.

And that was exactly the moment a giant monster crashed through the classroom ceiling, patterns like galaxies swirling across its skin, covered by giant plates of heavy armor that looked like it was scrapped together from satellite parts. In the chaos of everyone evacuating, he noticed it looking at a cluster of students trapped in the back corner of the room with intent to kill. Before he could think twice, he threw himself in front of them when the monster fired off some kind of energy beam. Weird as fuck mission report he'd have to give aside, he couldn't have asked for a more perfect opportunity. He pinged Motors and Charlie for extraction and subtly swallowed the pills. The world started to go hazy as a robotic voice started yelling something about switches, and something flashed brightly behind him. The last thing he saw was a white humanoid shape running towards the monster before his vision swam and he passed out.

When he woke up, he had another minor panic that he was, once again, in the wrong place. It had been a while since his rude awakening hosted by Aihara Jungo, and he was starting to worry that he'd forgotten what Seito's morgue looked like.

All of the room's familiar aspects were missing, except for the pungent scents of formalin and cleaning solutions. But that was such a general thing, every morgue probably smelled this way, so it did nothing to ease his worries of being in the wrong place. The blinding lights, deep shadows, and even the usual ambient noise of the water gently bobbing and rippling around in the room was gone. He was able to open his eyes and look around without having to squint, and everything was dim, almost blue in the low fluorescent lights, making the rest of the office space easier to see. An open doorway leading to the freezers for the bodies to his right, cabinets of medical supplies, and case notes to his left. The rest of the room was pretty bare except for the spare operating tables pushed up against the wall in front of him and the wheeled table of surgical tools and x-ray display boards next to them. It was weird not to wake up to at least someone hovering over him in some way. Graphite wished he could just rely on Kujo being the one to be around, but Aihara said he and Nisshi were trying to be the first ones to intercept any bodies that came through, so he reluctantly anticipated either of them to be around, this time.

Graphite looked around for any signs of life when he heard the doors open behind him. He didn't even have time to fight his instincts to whip around, his brain screaming at him to play dead while he just stared, wide-eyed at the three figures in the doorway, staring back, equally shocked. He recognized Kujo and Aihara easily enough, and the third one with them had to be Nisshi No-Other-Names-Ever-Given. (Of course, Hatena had looked it up, and his full name was Hikaru Raido. No one in the Genm basement had any idea where the nickname came from, but he was only ever 'Nisshi' from the way Kujo talked, making him 'Nisshi' in Graphite's head as well.)

Nisshi stepped out in front of both of them quickly, and he was ridiculously tall, enough to be slightly intimidating to even Graphite. But Aihara caught him by the hand, holding it steadily. They stared at each other for a while, having a conversation with their eyes until Nisshi mumbled something, and Aihara gave him a little smile and a nod. It was strange to see him be so gentle and almost reserved in comparison to how he was glaring and threatening Graphite last time they saw each other. Nisshi relented, and Aihara grinned knowingly between him and Kujo, who had his eyes honed in on Graphite the whole time. He couldn't exactly get a read on Kujo besides apprehension. He kept switching from nervously bouncing on his toes and going still while struggling to maintain a neutral face as Aihara and Nisshi did their whole exchange. If Graphite were honest with himself, he wasn't exactly sure what to do with the sudden torrent of emotions coursing through him, thinking Kujo must be feeling similarly.

Aihara chuckled softly and leaned down to press a kiss to Kujo's temple, snapping the medical examiner's attention to him. Some words were exchanged between them, and Aihara was on his way back out, heading somewhere down the hall. Kujo turned to Nisshi, brows furrowing in a distressed look, but Nisshi grabbed his hand, rubbing his thumb over Kujo's knuckles in a slow, soothing motion, holding it up for both of them to see. Kujo squeezed his hand back, making Graphite turn away, face warm from watching the displays of affection and suddenly feeling like an intruder in the moment. He stared at the far wall with the spare operation tables intently, trying to get his nervous breathing under control until he heard footsteps heading away.

The entire atmosphere shifted in the morgue once the door clicked shut. Graphite found it even harder to breathe now, with the air seemingly going dead and any ambient noises getting drowned out by the faint throb of his heart in his ears. After a tense moment, he finally heard the sound of Kujo's work shoes against the tile floor, something he didn't expect to recognize so easily after months away from him. He breathed out slowly, turning to meet the human's eyes as he stepped up alongside Graphite with a nervous smile. They stared at each other awkwardly for a while until Kujo opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say something, only to close it again, looking away. He patted the operating table, making a few, hollow-sounding bangs, and started walking to the offices.

"C'mon, we can get your clothes and talk properly." Kujo grinned over his shoulder, then disappeared through the doorway past the shelves and cabinets of medical supplies.

Graphite watched the doorway for a few moments before sliding off the operating table, cautiously walking towards it and stepping through.

He didn't get a chance to really look at the coroner's offices before his vision was obscured by fabric. He quickly caught it, almost tearing into it out of instinct, but stopped himself at the last second and realized Kujo had thrown his clothes at him. He blinked at them confusedly before looking up to meet Kujo's eyes, who was looking more than a little apprehensive behind his smile.

"Um, do you like coffee or tea? I can make some while you're getting dressed. And we have a changing screen back there because, well. Preserving chemical stink tends to hang around on your clothes and all, so we bring spare sets."

Graphite flustered for a few moments, finally admitting, "I don't know what I like."

Kujo's brow furrowed concernedly and Graphite elaborated, "I've never tried either before. Guess I've wanted to try, but I just, never really thought of it," The look turned from confused concern to something upset. Had he said something wrong? Kujo quickly tried to cover the look with a smile, but it didn't exactly reach his eyes. "You don't need to," Graphite quickly amended, "I'm only here for a little bit anyway—"

"I'll make you a tea, might be an easier first drink that's not water, but if you don't like it we can try something else," Kujo interrupted, his smile growing into something more genuine and encouraging, but it made Graphite still a bit uneasy like he'd said something wrong.

He just nodded and moved behind the changing screen, finding a little table behind it at a comfortable height to rest his elbow on if he wanted to. He put his clothes down on it, getting them on slowly as he heard Kiriya go around the room, getting the tea ready, presumably. There was a little click, and some shuffling around, soft taps of ceramic against a solid surface as he got his underwear on. While he pulled up his pants, he peeked at the translucent screen and could vaguely make out Kujo's silhouette through it. The accompanying footfalls and uncomfortable rustling of his lab coat told Graphite he was probably pacing, and he tried to hurry along, throwing his undershirt on. As he was buttoning his shirt up, he picked up a low burbling sound that continued until he pulled his jacket on when he heard a pop, and Kiriya moving around again. He peeked out from behind the screen cautiously and Kujo was taking an electric kettle off its stand and pouring the hot water into two mugs on one of the desks.

Graphite fully made his way back out into the room, and Kujo turned around to see him, "Nice timing," The medical examiner grinned, gesturing him to an office chair "C'mon over."

Graphite tentatively sat in the chair and Kujo moved to another desk, bringing another office chair over so they could sit and face each other, the desk and hot drinks at their side.

"So—"

"I'm sorry," Graphite said, staring at the teas, then averting his eyes to the floor, apologizing one more time for cutting Kujo off.

There was a moment of silence between them, until Kujo sighed softly, "Can you at least look at me if we're gonna do this?"

Graphite nodded, slowly tilting his head back up to meet his eyes, "Kujo I'm—" the human held his hand up.

"One more thing. Call me, Kiriya, okay? We've known each other for years. I know it feels short since we don't see each other often, and we don't exactly talk about personal things when we do, but we don't have to be all formal, okay?"

Graphite swallowed hard against the lump slowly forming in his throat but managed to nod again. He looked back to the mugs and picked up his. He let the steam warm his face, breathing in the mild earthy scent of the tea and tilted it back to take a sip. As he did, he caught Kuj— Kiriya. Kiriya.

He caught Kiriya's eyes over the rim of the mug, and he was biting his lip slightly with anticipation. Graphite felt his face warm from the attention and quickly looked back into the cup to slowly drink from it. The tea was infinitely better than whatever Kiriya ordered from the bar that night. But Graphite was slowly realizing they just had vastly different tastes, as he tipped the cup back down and saw the human taking sugar packets from a little basket full of them and pouring them one by one into his drink. He took another slow drink, enjoying the warmth and the bitterness of the tea. It even had a strange savory hint. Not exactly like meat, but nothing he'd ever have associated with a drink before. It was nice.

When he set the mug back down, Kujo was still pouring sugars into his own, and Graphite bit down on a smile. It was a little endearing.

"Kuj… oh. Er… Kiriya?"

The medical examiner looked up from his drink with a smile that showed off one of his dimples and a soft, "Hm?"

Ignoring the wild beating of his heart in his chest, Graphite pressed on, "I'm really sorry for what I did to you on the mission. And thank you for covering for me. You didn't have to do that at all after how I hurt you. I really can't express how much you've done for me."

Kiriya sighed and closed his eyes with a genuine little smile. "It's okay."

Graphite's brows furrowed a little and his hand curled into the armrest of the chair a little too tight. "Just like that?"

Kiriya nodded. "Yeah, because unlike your boss, I can forgive people for their mistakes."

"It wasn't just a mistake, though! I hurt you. And I meant to do it"

"And it's not the worst I've been thro—" Kujo cut himself off with a grimace, "Sorry, bad habit. Lemme just…" He took a deep breath to sort his thoughts, shifting in his chair uncomfortably before speaking again, "I know you weren't entirely in control when that happened. It was probably scary to lose it like that and go back on your promise to protect me. But you apologized, and we're both alive and well, so we're good in my book."

Graphite shook his head incredulously, "Seriously?"

Kujo laughed, "The Fuuto detectives suggested I get a therapist for everything I'd been through at the party, but I told them I'd already been seeing one for years, so I'm kinda just quoting them back to you right now. That wasn't my first time getting eaten, okay? At least when it was with you, it was by someone I genuinely liked. Like, if it had to be any Amazon, I think it'd be okay—"

"Don't." Graphite hissed. "Just… Don't do that to me. Saying you'd rather get hurt by me is worse than anything Aihara could do."

Kiriya's mouth dropped open. He stared at Graphite for a few moments before blinking rapidly and hanging his head to hide his expression. Graphite watched his hand curl into a fist on the table cautiously, taking note of the human's more labored breathing. They sat there silently, time stretching out slowly until Kiriya seemed to collect himself and looked back up with watery eyes.

"Okay," He smiled, "I'll try to keep that in mind."

Graphite nodded back and cleared his throat uncomfortably, trying not to let another silence settle between them, "Speaking of, Aihara mentioned rescuing you once. Is that why you're so good at covering up 'incidents?' Is that why it took you twenty minutes to call an ambulance?"

Kiriya chuckled and nodded, "I wanted to give you time to get away safely." Graphite frowned, unsure of what the sudden warmth in his chest meant while Kiriya continued. "Also, Jungo rescued me more than a few times, but yeah, I still have the scars from the first one. I've had to cover for his ass so many times while he was trying to leave Nozama. They tried sending people like you to shut him up instead of, oh, I don't know, calling him and asking him to sign a non-disclosure agreement or something. So I got stuck in the crossfire a few times." Kiriya's tone was still light, but Graphite couldn't help the twinge of guilt even if it had nothing to do with him.

"When he'd go missing, I'd have to make things up, and got really good at it to keep Jungo's position here while also explaining why he was missing that day for months. Fortunately, the hospital director's kinda gullible and is too kind on anyone that gives him a sob story. And eventually, Jungo went in and was able to talk something out with them, though he wanted to just burn the whole place down at that point. But he's just one guy, y'know? So what could he do?"

Graphite nodded, he knew that feeling quite well. Even with twelve Amazons at Genm, they still couldn't figure out a solid plan to escape or just tear the entire company down.

"Did Nisshi need to get adjusted to it, too?"

Kiriya barked out a laugh, "Ohh, no, no, no, Nisshi's an _entirely_ different story."

Graphite tilted his head confusedly, and Kiriya grinned.

"Have you ever seen those giant silver people with big patches of color accents fighting giant monsters?"

"Of course, everyone knows Ultraman."

"That's Nisshi," Kiriya said.

The words sent Graphite reeling, leaning back in his chair and staring blankly at the ceiling to process. Kiriya gave him his time, going back to doctoring his coffee with sugar and creamer and sipping quietly, acting as if nothing was wrong so it wouldn't be too awkward or silent.

"He's _what?"_

"He's Ultraman," Kiriya said simply. "Or _an_ Ultraman to be specific. Don't worry about it right now. I can get into the details later, or maybe he can explain it better when you actually meet him. The point of that was, I've had my fair share of weird experiences, you're interesting, and I like you, but don't go around with that ego thinking you're something special." He teased.

Graphite noticed Kujo's use of 'when' instead of _'if_ you meet him' and briefly thought back to Aihara saying Kiriya wanted him and Nisshi to meet Graphite. So, he was still planning to get that to happen. He shelved that knowledge for the moment and settled for scowling, "It's not my fault you live in extraordinary circumstances all the time. I'm not used to a civilian that's just so… Accepting of all this."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get used to it."

Graphite shook his head, "I was planning on avoiding this place now that we've talked, I finally got Charlie and Motors to agree their original plan was stupid."

"Oh really?" Kiriya said quietly, and did he look disappointed? Graphite clenched his teeth but tried not to let his breaking resolve show. Of course, he didn't want to stop seeing Kiriya now, but it was for the best, but when Kiriya looked so sad about the whole thing it made him want to stick around.

"I was kinda hoping that giving you my resume of dealing with weird stuff would be enough to convince you that we could keep hanging out. I could explain all the weird stuff I've been through with Nisshi if that'll help."

"No." Graphite tried to stay firm. "I think I'm too dangerous to be around. Especially you."

Kiriya's eyes went glassy again, "Can you tell me why at least?"

And Graphite couldn't say no to that, at least, as horrible as the reasons were. Maybe if Kujo… Maybe if _Kiriya_ knew how twisted their relationship had become on his side, he'd finally understand why Graphite needed to stay away. So he swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and met the human's eyes once again.

"I think, we've become too close. For someone in my position, and just what I am, getting close to anyone is dangerous on so many different levels. And you've already got so much going on with your partners." Kiriya looked like he wanted to protest, but Graphite shook his head, willing him to stop and listen. Kiriya pouted for a moment but leaned back in his chair silently.

"That night, when I bit you… It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. You tasted so good." Graphite's hands were trembling where they gripped the armrests.

"But… isn't food supposed to taste good?"

Graphite averted his eyes, "Yes, but you were… I think some personal bias ended up affecting my tastes in that moment. So, you get it, right? Why I need to stay away? I'm just some monster who's going to lose control one day and tear you apart."

Kiriya went silent for a while, but scooted his chair closer, reaching out a tentative hand.

"Hey, don't discount yourself too fast, um. That's probably the weirdest confession I've ever gotten but I, heh. I've been talking about this with Jungo and Nisshi for a while, and I like you, too."

Graphite's organs suddenly felt too tight for his ribcage, and he subconsciously pressed a hand to his chest in hopes of pushing it back down.

"It's not… You can't— I don't deserve— I'm not ready to—"

"Hey," Kiriya said gently, directing his attention back to the human, "This is pretty ass-backward, but we don't need to get into it now. We have a lot of other things to talk about. And Nisshi and Jungo would definitely have to get involved, too, if we end up deciding to go through with those feelings." Graphite froze, watching with bated breath for his next words. "Maybe we should just introduce ourselves like regular people for once, and we can go slow from there," a familiar little smirk tugged at his lips, "What do you think?"

The tightness in his chest finally calmed down, and Graphite nodded, taking a breath, "I mean, neither of us are exactly _regular_ but," Graphite grinned, sticking his hand out. "Yeah, it's a nice baseline."

Kiriya took Graphite's and shook it, "I'm Kujo Kiriya, Seito Hospital's senior medical examiner. Nice to officially meet you."

Graphite bit his lip to choke back a laugh, "I'm Graphite, one Genm Corp's twelve in-house assassins. Nice to meet you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
